Rohan Chowdhury
Saurabh Chaudhary and Suruchi Singh secured a bronze medal in the 10m air pistol mixed team event at the ISSF World Cup 2025, in Buenos Aires, on Thursday, 10th April, as India concluded the competition with a total of eight medals. The Indian shooting contingent bagged four gold, two silver, and two bronze medals to finish second in the overall medal standings. China led the table with five gold, three silver, and three bronze medals.
Chaudhary and Suruchi overcame fellow Indians, Manu Bhaker, double Olympic medalist, in Paris 2024, and Ravinder Singh with a score of 16-8 in the bronze medal match. At the Paris 2024 Olympics, Bhaker had partnered Sarabjot Singh to win bronze in the same event, though Sarabjot did not compete in Buenos Aires.
In the qualification round, Tokyo Olympian Chaudhary and Suruchi posted a combined score of 581-26x, with Suruchi scoring 291 and Chaudhary contributing 290. Bhaker and Ravinder Singh narrowly followed with 579-19x to finish fourth.
Suruchi, who also won an individual Gold at the 10m Air Rifle event, expressed her joy of having a tremendous debut World Cup campaign. She said, “It has been a great experience here in Argentina and I learned a lot. I didn’t feel any nerves and tried to stay focused. I feel proud of myself for being able to do it.”
India’s four gold medals came from Sift Kaur Samra – women’s 50m rifle 3 positions, Rudrankksh Patil – men’s 10m air rifle, Suruchi – women’s 10m air pistol, and Vijayveer Sidhu – men’s 25m rapid fire pistol.
Experienced candidate, Vijayveer, who marked his 5th ISSF World Cup medal with this gold, said what it meant for him to bag his first individual gold in this event. He said, “It was a great competition in the final with some top shooters but I kept the focus on my game rather than focusing on the other players. It has been a good campaign for India, a tough competition with China and we move on.”
Speaking to ISSF Media, Sift said, “I am really happy to win my first senior individual gold in the World Cup. Argentina, a new place, a new medal and a good start to 2025.”
Till the start of the final Standing round, she was eighth and reflecting on that she said, “Yes it didn’t start well and I said to myself not to lose hope because I had done this in the past – didn’t start well with kneeling and prone but recovered in standing.” With the LA28 Shooting Sport Programme only having the standing round in the 3P Final, Sift Kaur Samra is sure to feel confident about it.
Rudrankksh, who won two medals in this Argentina World Cup, a gold in the Men’s 10m Air Rifle and a silver in the mixed team event with Arya Borse, also expressed his thoughts. Speaking to ISSF, Patil said, “Given that I won gold before this (the mixed team final) I could have done a bit better. However, the experience was good and we learned from it and it’s a good start to 2025.” Borse, who made her World Cup debut in Argentina, said, “It was a great experience. I was a bit under pressure – this was my first World Cup. Happy to win this medal.”
Despite high expectations, Bhaker left the tournament without a medal. She finished 13th in the qualifiers for the women’s 10m air pistol and placed sixth in the 25m pistol final. Olympic bronze medalist Swapnil Kusale also did not participate in this edition of the World Cup.
The next leg of the ISSF World Cup 2025 is set to commence in Lima, Peru, on Sunday.
India’s medal winners in Buenos Aires:
Sift Kaur Samra – gold, women’s 50m rifle 3 positions
Rudrankksh Patil – gold, men’s 10m air rifle
Suruchi Singh – gold, women’s 10m air pistol
Vijayveer Sidhu – gold, men’s 25m rapid fire pistol
Esha Singh – silver, women’s 25m pistol
Arya Borse and Rudrankksh Patil – silver, 10m air rifle mixed team
Saurabh Chaudhary and Suruchi Singh – bronze, 10m air pistol mixed team
Chain Singh – bronze, men’s 50m rifle 3 positions
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